Wells Fargo to rethink diversity policy after former employees speak out about fake interviews

Wells Fargo has ended a hiring policy that required managers to interview a variety of candidates before offering someone a job, the banking giant confirmed to CBS MoneyWatch.

“Since the New York Times published an article last month about diverse job applicants at Wells Fargo, I’ve had the opportunity to hear from many of you,” the bank’s CEO, Charles Scharf, said in a memo to staff this week. “In these sessions, you described in deeply personal terms the career obstacles you faced because of who you are.”

The pause comes three weeks after former employees told The New York Times that Wells Fargo often had them conduct “fake interviews” with a person of color, even though it had no intention of actually hiring the person. One former employee in particular — Joe Bruno — said he was fired for speaking out against the fake interviews, the Times reported.

Wells Fargo will make adjustments to the policy, retrain hiring managers, then relaunch the policy next month, Scharf said in the memo. In the meantime, the company still plans to interview and hire candidates of color, he said.

“Window Decorating”

Wells Fargo, the nation’s third-largest bank, adopted the policy two years ago in an effort to increase diversity in its workplace. Under the policy, hiring managers must interview at least one woman and one person of color for job openings, especially for positions where the salary would be $100,000 or more. Blacks make up 13 percent of Wells Fargo’s U.S.-based workforce, and Hispanics 17 percent, according to 2020 company data.

Other companies, such as Adobe, Best Buy and Pinterest, have adopted similar mandatory interview measures to promote employee diversity. However, the technique has drawn criticism from experts who say it often amounts to a useless quota that doesn’t move the needle. Hiring managers simply check the box for diversity interviews, then hire the candidate they always intended to attract, experts told CBS MoneyWatch.

“Quotas are created because workplaces don’t know what else to do,” said Kim Crowder, who owns a company that consults on diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring. “Companies use them as window dressing to make it look like things are moving forward.”

In 2020, Scharf said Wells Fargo was having trouble attracting diverse employees because of a “very limited pool of black talent.” He later apologize for the comment.

There are no quick fixes

Since the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota two years ago, there has been increased social pressure on corporate America to hire more workers of color and provide them with equal pay, opportunities for growth and a more inclusive work environment.

But little progress has been made in the financial sector over the years, according to research by the federal government and think tanks. Whites continue to dominate management and executive positions at most major banks and insurance companies, surveys show.

Crowder said Wells Fargo’s policy may have failed because it relied solely on job interviews as a solution to the larger problem of little diversity at the company.

“Fixing something in one month that’s been going on for years doesn’t make sense,” Crowder told CBS MoneyWatch. Diversity hiring “is one area where companies always want quick solutions.”